McGeoghean v. McGeoghean

25 Mass. L. Rptr. 528
CourtMassachusetts Superior Court
DecidedJune 1, 2009
DocketNo. 200405164
StatusPublished

This text of 25 Mass. L. Rptr. 528 (McGeoghean v. McGeoghean) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts Superior Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McGeoghean v. McGeoghean, 25 Mass. L. Rptr. 528 (Mass. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

Fremont-Smith, Thayer, J.

These consolidated actions arise out of a dispute over the estate of the late Sarah P. McGeoghean of Cambridge. The disputants are her five surviving children, who are, in descending order of age, John, Kevin, Terrence and Timothy Mc-Geoghean and Maureen Fahey. Sarah died in September 2004. Shortly thereafter, Timothy filed for probate a will dated September 10, 2004, and in October 2004 John and Kevin filed an Affidavit of Objections to the will. That case is Estate of Sarah P. McGeoghean, Middlesex Probate and Family Court Docket No. 04P-4734EP1. Timothy later moved to substitute a prior iteration of the will, dated August 24, 2004.

Likewise in October 2004, Timothy, as managing member of 144 Smith Place LLC, brought an action to evict from those premises McGeoghean Waste Systems, Inc., a corporation operated by John. That action is 144 Smith Place, LLC v. McGeoghean Waste Systems, Inc., Middlesex Summary Process Docket No. 05-52SU24.

On December 31, 2004, John and Kevin commenced a Superior Court action as plaintiffs against Terrence, Timothy and Maureen and their spouses, seeking the rescission of conveyances of residential property made by the decedent to the defendants in 2001, the rescission of the conveyance of the business property at 144 Smith Place to the LLC in 2004, and requesting the conveyance of the latter property to John. Kevin seeks the conveyance to him of a summer home owned by the decedent in Hyannis. The defendants answered and counterclaimed, seeking, inter alia, an accounting from John for various sums alleged to belong to the decedent’s estate and a declaration that the estate is the 60% owner of the Waste Systems company.

A chronology of relevant events is as follows.

1) 1989: January 20, 1989: John McGeoghean, Sr. and James Kelley purchase 144 Smith Place property in Cambridge (each owns 50% as tenants-in-common). The purchase price is $990,000, with a mortgage given in the amount of $700,000. Kelley operates Cambridge Landscaping Co. on his half of the site and continues to do so to the present day. John, Sr. operates McGeoghean Construction, an unincorporated sole proprietorship, on the other half of the premises.

2) 1991: August 24, 1991: John, Sr. passes away, leaving eveiything to his widow, Sarah. Everything consists of:

A three-family house at 400 Walden Street, Cambridge.
A three-family house at 22-24 Saville Street, Cambridge.
The family home at 20 Saville Street, Cambridge.
A single-family home at 91 Sherman Street, Cambridge.
A summer home at 467 Ocean Avenue, Hyannis.
An undivided one-half interest as a tenant-in-common with James Kelley in commercial property located at 144 Smith Place (also numbered at 180-A Fawcett Street), Cambridge.

Also, at a family meeting shortly after John, Sr.’s death in 1991, it is agreed by the entire family that John would own 40% of the construction business and Sarah 60%, which reflected their contributions to the business.

3) 1992: January 7, 1992: McGeoghean Construction is incorporated and the stock is issued 60% to Sarah, 40% to John based on the respective financial contributions of Sarah and John and their agreement. Sarah also agrees to leave her 50% interest in Smith Place and her 60% interest in McGeoghean Construction to John if he continues to pay the bills on the Smith Place property (of which she is 50% owner with Kelly) and to pay a support salary to Sarah.1

4) 1994: January 5, 1994: Sarah gives a power of attorney to John.

5) 1996: April 23, 1996: Sarah meets with attorney Sanford Crane re: estate planning at office of John’s accountant, Stephen Troiano. Present are John, Sarah, Crane, Sarah’s daughter Maureen and Troiano.

6) 1997: October 24, 1997: 91 Sherman Street Realty Trust is formed and 91 Sherman Street, Cambridge, which was owned by Sarah, is deeded to the Trust. Trust borrows $1.3 million from Salem Five Cents Savings Bank for construction of condo apartments. John estimates to the bank that construction cost will be $1.2 million.

November 1997 - 1998: Construction of 91 Sherman Street condominium units by McGeoghean Construction. In July - September, condominium units (8 units total) are sold for a total of $2.65 million. $350,000 (her acquisition cost for the property) is paid to Sarah. Bank repaid $1.3 million. The Trust tax return reports profit of $170,000 which is paid to John for his work on the project.

7) 1998 - 2000: McGeoghean Waste Systems is incorporated. John, and his wife and children are 100% shareholders. McGeoghean Waste Systems, Inc. has no employees or equipment of its own. It pays McGeoghean Construction a management fee for the use of its employees and equipment. John winds down operations of McGeoghean Construction and transfers equipment to Waste Systems or disposes of it.

Sarah first meets with attorney Larry Frazer re: estate planning (introduced by John Duddy). Frazer drafts and sends estate planning documents to Sarah.

8) 2001: January 2001: Frazer meets with Sarah and Timothy, Maureen and Terrence.

[530]*530a) January 25, 2001: Estate planning documents executed by Sarah:

Her will makes testamentary bequest of $200,000 to John; testamentary bequest of $400,000 in Trust to Kevin; residue in trust to Timothy, Terrence and Maureen.
Sarah McGeoghean Revocable Trust for such residue is created.
Durable POA to Timothy (John’s 1994 POA not revoked).
Health Care Proxy to Maureen.
Kevin McGeoghean Trust, to be funded by $400,000 from her estate.

b) August 1, 2001:22-24 Saville Street property sold by Sarah to Maureen McGeoghean-Fahey and Sean Fahey for purchase price of $363,000 paid to Sarah and a gift of $237,000 to Maureen and her spouse.

c) September 17, 2001: 20 Saville Street property sold by Sarah to Timothy and Patricia McGeoghean for purchase price of $275,000 paid to Sarah and a gift of $200,000 to Timothy and his spouse.

d) October 5, 2001: 400 Walden Street property sold by Sarah to Terrence and Antoinette McGeoghean for a purchase price of $363,000 paid to Sarah and a gift of $237,000 to Terrence and his spouse.

e) October 2001: Sarah executes and files a “Vaughan” affidavit in connection with John’s divorce proceeding, indicating to the Probate Court that John will get a cash bequest as indicated in her 2001 will and nothing else.

9) 2002: March 1, 2002: Sarah purchases 40 Powers Road, Littleton for price of $347,500. She puts up $92,000 in cash and gives a mortgage to secure a note for $278,000. She indicates that she is purchasing the property for John.

10) 2003: September 25, 2003: Sarah gives POA to Maureen McGeoghean-Fahey.

a) September 2003: Sarah makes Maureen a signatory to Sarah’s Sovereign Bank account.

b) November 18, 2003: Sarah deeds Littleton property to John for a purchase price of $406,000 and a gift of $82,400 to John.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Shopneck v. Rosenbloom
93 N.E.2d 227 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1950)
Loranger Construction Corp. v. E. F. Hauserman Co.
384 N.E.2d 176 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1978)
Heinrich v. Silvernail
500 N.E.2d 835 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1986)
Hastoupis v. Gargas
398 N.E.2d 745 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1980)
Hickey v. Green
442 N.E.2d 37 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1982)
Simon v. Simon
625 N.E.2d 564 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1994)
Loranger Construction Corp. v. E. F. Hauserman Co.
374 N.E.2d 306 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1978)
Heil v. McCann
275 N.E.2d 889 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1971)
Slawsby v. Slawsby
601 N.E.2d 478 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1992)
May v. Bradlee
127 Mass. 414 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1879)
Neill v. Brackett
234 Mass. 367 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1920)
Taylor v. Creeley
152 N.E. 3 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1926)
Claffey v. Fenelon
161 N.E. 616 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1928)
Daly v. Hussey
174 N.E. 916 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1931)
M. McDonough Corp. v. Connolly
46 N.E.2d 576 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1943)
Nile v. Nile
432 Mass. 390 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 2000)
Keville v. McKeever
675 N.E.2d 417 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1997)
Santagate v. Tower
833 N.E.2d 171 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 2005)
Sutton v. Valois
846 N.E.2d 1171 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 2006)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
25 Mass. L. Rptr. 528, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcgeoghean-v-mcgeoghean-masssuperct-2009.